Elevator floor safety switch



APPLlcAnoN nifgp name2. 1921.

Patented Nov. 21, 1922.

C. M. ALDRED.,

ELEVATOR FLOOR SAFETY SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED DEC.22. I92I.v

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IIIIl IIIIIII CMLQREQ SII Patented Nov. 2L i922.

r1 -umx for C. M. ALDRED. ELEVATOR FLOOR SAFETY SWITCH. APPLICATIONFILED Dc.22. 1921.

atented Nov. 21, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

C. M. ALDRED. ELEVATOR FLOOR SAFETY SWITCH. APPLICATION HLED DEc.22.1921.

1,436,137* 4 Patented. Nov.'21, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

Patented Nov.. 2l, 1922.

*ii-TED STATES CURTIS M. ALDRLED,y 0F CHARLOTTE'. NORTH'CA'ROLINA.

ELEVATOR FLOORl SAFETY SWITCH.

Application filed December 22,1921'. SerialNo'. 524,241'.

T all.' who/mit 'may .concer/n.'

Be it'know-n that I, CURTIS M. ALDRED, a.

'andA iiseiul-y Elevator Floor Safety Switch', of

which the following isaspecificationly rlfhe object of. my inventionis-'to. pro.vi de a: novel apparatus for'use in connection. withelevators to protect both the elevator. and freight or passengers onsame, by causing the: elevato-r.` to: stop in the' event that lanyobject projects out ofA the elevator while itis operating; and it. isanV especial. object of iny invention `to provide thenovelf safetyswitch disclosedv and the novel arrangement cfa means'for operating;said switch. I attain these and other objects of my invention by the.mechanism illustrated. in the' accompanying drawings, in .which Figure1- is a frontelevation of the appar'atiisinstalled for two or morefloors;

Fig:v 2 is atop plan of theiapiparatus: arranged. about theA elevatorhatch;

Fig. 3l is afront elevation.. showing h 'ow projecting freight on' the'elevator engaging the safety wire trips the switch to-stop.v theelevator. Y

Fig. 4. is a front view of. the switchwith cover removed Figi. iscarear-view oil theyswitchr;` 4

Fig; 7i isatopview. ot member 7 Fig. 8 is a side elevation of members 6g7 and:y 8; v

Fig. 9 is ai bottom plan-cf pulley 8;

Fig. 10v is a side elevation or members'- 6 and 9J;

Fig.v 11 is'a similar view at'. right-angles to Fig-10;: l

Fig; 12 is an elevational view of memberj10;

Fig. 13 is` a similar. viewat right angles toFig;.12"; and.

Fig. 14 is al detail elevational viewv of member 111. I

- Likecliai'acters ot referencedesignatelike partsfiir each of theseveral views. p

Reerringfto Figsl7 2 and 3-,theieis1illustrated an elevatorl sha-ft orhatch 2 having 2in--elevator 3 which is guided by the' guide posts 1,all of usual constructioman elevator of thev freight-carrying type beingillustrated; On elevator. 3, in Figs. 1 andV 3v is illustrated anarticle offreight 4 which has been carelessly placed on. the elevatorsoy that a corner of it protrudes beyond the elevator hat'chi in aiposition to contact with the switch-operating safety or guard wire orcable'- 5'. I-t.' will olf' course be understood .that member 5 may beeither a wire, cable orichainof any suitable material. I provide.suitable-pipes 35 through" which the wire 5 is.y run and; whichprotects the wire. Attachedik to the ceiling by flanges 7 aresuitablepulley" hangers 6" carrying suitably arranged? pulleys, suchy asthe vertically arranged: pulleys 9 andj the horizontally arrangedp'ulleys 81 as required bythe particular installation conditions. I alsoprovide suitable screw-eye: pulleys 10 where it is necessary fortliecablek 5 to be positioned in proximitytoithe ceilingor wall. I alsoprovide a turn buckley 12a's illustrated in Fig. 2. wli'ere-vdesirableto effect a proper-operationl of the: apparatus. Y

Theend' of wirel or cable 5 is operatively connected'v with` switchlever 14: in some suitablemanner, preferably by the link 37 illustratedin Figs. 4. and 5, and which detachably engagesv the outer end 15 oflever 14. I providea'. suitable cas'ingl for the switch mechanism. Lever14: isimounted on casing 16 byy means of a suitable pivot- 17. The innerend.. of lever. 142 normally engages the freef end. ofcontactinglever18, which latter lever. isfpinned on ther-square shaft 19. The lever.18i` isl heldv to its normal position by a. suitable spring 2O whichconnects the lever 1 8.` tof the casing 16 under spring tension. Spring20-f is. secured to casing 16 by any suit-able means such; as: theadjustable fastening,211, and isfsecured to' lever 18 by any suitableineans such as the clevis 22. I also provide' a suitable stop` 23 oncasing 16 positioned to@y engage lever 18 after it has been released' bylever 14; I providenotch 36 for link 37. onv` the end of lever 14.

Referring to Fig.. 4, I provide suitable insulations 24 forthe'- squareshaft 19 which issecured-ito theA contact. aiin 25 by a suitableclamp=-26- Mounted on the end of contact ari'n-v 25 is ai suitablecontact member 2T and which is. provided With a cushion-spring 29interposed between thel head of the Contact membery 2T and the contactarm, whereby the' member 2T has a degree ofv cushioning. The head ofcontact ineinber 2.7 normally engages the contact ineinber 28, whichlatter is connected with the electricaly conductor 34 while contact 27is connectedJ with the electrical conductor 33 in the electriccontrolled circuit which operates the elevator in a suitableconventional manner. I provide insulated washers 30 on contact member28, as shown in Fig. 4, to insulate same from the metal support 31,mounted on or integral with cover 32, as shown in F ig. 6.

Square shaft 19 is machined on each end and the switch casing and coverare drilled to receive the shaft, one end of which projects through thecasing, as shown in Figs. 6 and 5.

The switch mechanism 13 is wired intoelectric connection with anycontrolled circuit of switch board or any electric apparatuses forcontrolling passenger or freight elevators. The switch is held in itsnormal position, as shown in Fig. 5, by the safety or guard wire 5 whichis placed around the elevator hatch either plumb with the floor, orsuitably spaced between the iioor and elevator hatch so that projectingfreight on the elevator that might otherwise catch or hang on the flooror ceiling, when the elevator is ascending or descending, would comeinto contact with the safety wire 5 with the result that the increasedtension would swing lever 141. free from lever 18. The link 87 attachedto the end of wire 5 will slip off from the notch 36 on the end of lever14, thereby reventing the wire from being broken. PLever 18 beingdisengaged from lever 14 will move in the direction of the arrows inFig. 5 under the tension of spring 20, and correspondingly move theshaft 19, which in turn will operate the'contact arm 25 and the contactvmember 27ste break its electrical contact with contact 28, therebyopening the controlled circuit through the switch board or controllingsystem of the elevator and stop-ping the elevator automatically.

The length of rods 6 which carrythe pulleys 8 and 9 over which thesafety wire 5 is mounted is determined by the time required for the carto stop after the switch is thrown. f

Whenever there is only one opening in the elevator, or the elevator isprotected `by an enclosure, except for one instance, the wire 5 will bearranged as shown in F ig.v1.

If the switch mechanism is not properly adjusted or if the safety wire 5becomes slack or breaks, the elevator will not run; This result affordsprotection `to bot-li the elevator, freight, or passenger, as thesafetywire holds the switch closed in running position under normalconditions. If the safety wire breaks it throws the safety switch tostop the elevator. The switch may be used for either I). C. or A. C.current, two

phase and three phase and with any suitable contact elements and contactarms.

It is understood that I may make any suitable modiication in the detailsof the mechapermit the stopping of the elevator before nism disclosednot involving a departure of the principle of construction and operationdisclosed and hereinafter claimed.

Vhat I claim is 1.V In a protective apparatus for elevators, thecombination of a wirearranged around and in close DroXimitv to anelevator hatch, meansfor supporting the wire in the desired relation tothe hatch, an electric switch mechanism with which the wire isoperatively engaged, the normal tension of the wire functioning to holdthe switch yin the normal running or closed position, the switch kbeingarranged to operate the elevator controlling apparatus and stop theelevator when operated by any interference withl the normal tension ofthe wire on the switch by a protruding object engaging the wire. l

the combination of a'wire arranged around and in close proximity to anelevator hatch, means for supporting the wire in the predeterminedrelation to the hatch required to itreaches a floor after operation ofthe hereinafter mentioned switch mechanism, an electric switch having anoperating lever releasably engaged by the aforesaid wire the normaltension of the wire functioning to hold the switch in the normalrunningor closed position, the switch being arranged to operateconventional elevator controlling apparatus to stop the elevator whenthe wire is 1engaged by any protruding object on the elevato-r. v

3. In an elevator floor safety switch, the combination with contactmembers connected with electrical conductorsin circuit with electricalelevator operating apparatus, a switch casing having a bracket supporton which one of the contact members is rigidly supported, aswingablecontact arm on which the other contact member is movablymounted, a shaft on which the contact arm is 110 clamped. a leveraflixed to said shaft to control its position and movement, a secondpivoted lever operatively engaging the lever attached to the shaft andholding the latter Ain its normal position under a degree of tension, aspring regulating the tension, and a guard wire detachably engaged tothe outer end of the second lever, said wire being suitably disposedaround and in proximity to the elevator hatch, whereby any protrudingobject on the elevator will engage the wire and Voperate the switch, andwhereby a similar result will follow if for any reason the wirebecomesslack or is broken, thus stopping the elevator and per- .125initting accidents.

4. In an elevator floor safety switch, the combination with contactmembers connected with electrical conductors incircuit with 'electricalelevator operating appara- 130 tus, means for supporting one of thecontact members in stationary position, means for supporting the othercontact member in 4movable position but normally in contact with theother contact member, adjustable spring tensioning means normallyfunctioning` to retain the movable contact member in contact with thestationary Contact member, a pivoted lever engaging the means forsupporting the movable contact member but releasable therefrom underincreased tension, and a guard wire attached to said lever and arrangedaround the doorways of the elevator hatch in p0- sition to be engaged byany object protruding from the elevator; whereby to operate the switchunder such conditions and stop the elevator and avert accidents.

5. In combination with the apparatus described in claim 4, rods mountedon the ceiling or floors of the building in proximity with the elevatorhatch, said rods having suitably disposed pulleys for supporting theguard wire at a distance of predetermined eXtent from the floors orceiling to allow time for the apparatus controlling the elevator tobring same to a stop before reaching the ceiling or floor following thetripping o-f the safety switch by the operation of the guard wire by anyprotruding object.

CURTIS M. ALDRED.

